Skip to content

Top Navigation

Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure
  • Trip Inspiration
  • Travel Guides
  • World's Best
  • Destination of the Year
  • A-List Travel Advisors
  • Cruises
  • Travel Tips
  • News
  • Food + Drink
  • Travel Accessories
  • Check-In

Profile Menu

Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Help
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Travel + Leisure

Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure
  • Explore

    Explore

    • World's Best

      The greatest islands, cities, hotels, cruise lines, airports, and more — as voted by you. Read More Next
    • The 50 Best Places to Travel in 2021

      Whether you're traveling solo or planning a family vacation, here are the 50 best places to visit in 2021. Read More Next
    • Let's Go Together Podcast

      Start listening to T+L's brand new podcast, Let's Go Together! Hosted by Kellee Edwards. Read More Next
  • Trip Inspiration

    Trip Inspiration

    • Trip Ideas
    • Weekend Getaways
    • Spring Travel
    • Summer Travel
    • Fall Travel
    • Winter Travel
    • Solo Travel
    • Romantic Getaways
    • Luxury Travel
    • Beach Vacations
    • Adventure Travel
    • Road Trips
    • Family Travel
    • National Parks
    • Holiday Travel
    • Travel Photography
    • Photo of the Day
    • Culture and Design
    • Travel Deals
    • Attractions
    • Amusement Parks
    • Festivals and Events
    • Bus and Trains
    • Flight Deals
    • Budget Travel
    • Hotels and Resorts
    • Disney Vacations
    • Airlines and Airports
    • Ground Transportation
    • BookTandL.com
  • Travel Guides
  • World's Best

    World's Best

    • Top Hotels
    • Top Cities
    • Top Islands
    • Domestic Airlines
    • International Airlines
    • Tours
    • Safaris
    • All World's Best
  • Destination of the Year
  • A-List Travel Advisors
  • Cruises

    Cruises

    • Find A Cruise
    • Caribbean Cruises
    • River Cruises
    • European Cruises
    • All-Inclusive Cruises
    • Family Cruises
    • Alaskan Cruises
    • Disney Cruises
    • See All Cruise Vacations
  • Travel Tips

    Travel Tips

    • Travel Trends
    • Packing Tips
    • Points + Miles
    • Budgeting + Currency
    • Customs + Immigration
    • Responsible Travel
    • Travel Etiquette
    • Travel Warnings
    • Weather
    • Mobile Apps
    • See All Travel Tips
  • News

    News

    • Wellness
    • Celebrity Travel
    • Animals
    • Jobs
    • Offbeat
    • See All News
  • Food + Drink

    Food + Drink

    • Restaurants
    • Wine
    • Beer
    • Cocktails + Spirits
    • Bars + Clubs
    • Celebrity Chefs
    • Cooking + Entertaining
    • Food Fairs + Festivals
    • World's Best Restaurants
    • See All Food + Drink
  • Travel Accessories

    Travel Accessories

    • Travel Bags
    • Shoes
    • Travel Tech
    • Shopping
    • Style
    • Gift Guides
    • See All Travel Accessories
  • Check-In

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Help
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home
  2. Culture + Design
  3. Architecture + Design
  4. T+L Design Awards

T+L Design Awards

By Heather Smith MacIsaac and Katie James
January 07, 2014
Skip gallery slides
Save Pin
Credit: Courtesy of Hyatt
Travel + Leisure’s esteemed jury, including designer Thom Browne and TUMI’s Jerome Griffith, review the standout features of the 10th-annual Design Award winners.

T+L Design Awards jury moderated by Chee Pearlman. Text by Heather Smith MacIsaac, with Honorable Mentions, Jury, and Product Descriptions by Katie James. Edited by Luke Barr. Reported by Katie James, with Sara Greenfest, Stirling Kelso, Courtney Kenefick, Mimi Lombardo, Mario R. Mercado, and Tom Samiljan.

See More Video
Start Slideshow

1 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best Cultural Space Elena Garro Cultural Center, Mexico City

Credit: Jaime Navarro

Designed by Fernanda Canales + Arquitectura 911sc

In more ways than one, the Elena Garro Cultural Center has turned on a bright light in one of Mexico City’s oldest neighborhoods. The architects chose to preserve an early-20th-century house by encasing it in concrete and glass, thereby creating a new forecourt that frames the restored masonry façade of the older building, and glows like a lantern at night. New reading rooms and a lush exterior garden, designed by landscape architecture firm Entorno Taller de Diseño, honor the Mexican poet and author for whom the center is named—as do floor-to-ceiling walls of books, visible from the street. elenagarro.conaculta.gob.mx.

1 of 24

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best Restaurant Höst, Copenhagen

Credit: Martin Kaufmann

Designed by Norm Architects

Local, organic, sustainable—the prime ingredients of New Nordic cuisine are also the hallmarks of Höst, designed by Norm and the design brand Menu. Rough plank ceilings and tables, gypsum brick walls, recycled windows, cutting boards as wall art, and furry hides bring farm to table—literally. Spindle chairs in three variations and dinnerware, all in a palette of white, gray, and black, introduce a purity of form as clean-lined as the food on the plate. In a thoroughly urban setting, rustic and modern find kinship. newnorm.dk.

2 of 24

3 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Honorable Mention: Best Restaurant Lobster Bar, Paris

Credit: Courtesy of Lobster Bar

Designed by Mathieu Mercier

Casual, nautical, and unpretentious—tableside light fixtures from a 1950s ocean liner, custom-made brass tables, a hand-drawn fresco by Swedish illustrators Bjorn Altdax and Karl Grandin of Vår—this new Paris restaurant is perfectly suited to its lobster-roll menu. lobsterbar.fr

3 of 24

Advertisement

4 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best Bridge Høse Bridge, Sand, Norway

Credit: Dag Jenssen

Designed by Rintala Eggertsson Architects

At the request of the citizens of Sand, Norway, who wished to connect their town to a vast woodland, architects Sami Rintala, Dagur Eggertsson, and Vibeke Jenssen devised a deceptively simple link. The rigorous steel structure is as tough as the bedrock to which it is anchored, but stretches of wall are, by turns, panels of solid Cor-Ten and sheets of porous stainless-steel mesh. The effect of closed and open space over rushing water delivers, in a span of 70 feet, a uniquely varied audio and visual passage—and an elegant interplay of the man-made and natural.

4 of 24

5 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best Hotel, 100 or More Rooms London Edition

Credit: Simon Watson

Designed by Yabu Pushelberg/ISC Design Studio

The newest collaboration between Ian Schrager and Marriott International epitomizes modern luxury. Behind the handsome Georgian façade of the former Berners Hotel lie public spaces whose architectural grandeur is accentuated by magnificent fixtures and strategic lighting, yet tempered by modern, low-slung, monochromatic furnishings. Ornately framed photographs and paintings hang, gallery-style, along paneled walls in Berners Tavern. Guest rooms are walnut- or oak-lined cabins of calm—peaceful retreats from the hubbub of the city. edition-hotels.marriott.com.

5 of 24

6 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best Museum Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, New York

Credit: Iwan Baan

Designed by Herzog & de Meuron

In the land of riches that is the East End of Long Island, the Parrish is a building brave enough to be humble. Harking back to the agricultural structures that once dominated the landscape, the museum’s shape evokes that of a barn, if an extraordinarily long, twin-gabled, and finely detailed one. The line it draws in an open meadow is striking in its simplicity; inside, the central corridor is flanked by galleries, while a wide, covered terrace at one end extends a friendly invitation to step into a world of American art. parrishart.org.

6 of 24

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Honorable Mention: Best Museum Musée Louvre-Lens, Lens, France

Credit: Michael Jacobs / Alamy

Designed by Kazuyo Sejimam and Ryue Nishizawa/SANAA

Clad in glass and lightly reflective anodized aluminum, the Paris Louvre’s newest satellite museum in the former coal-mining town of Lens quietly dissolves into its surroundings, which includes a public park designed by Catherine Mosbach. Its massive Grande Galerie provides a single room in which works are organized chronologically along its length and geographically across its width. The most unique aspect, however, is the multimedia Discovery Area, which overlooks on-site restoration workshops and museum reserves—areas that are historically off-limits to visitors. louvrelens.fr

7 of 24

8 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best Resort Pedras Salgadas Spa & Nature Park, Portugal

Credit: José Cunha/Courtesy of PEDRAS SALGADAS spa & nature park

Designed by Luís Rebelo de Andrade for Arquitraço

The 13 cottages and tree houses of this resort step lightly on the land, the latter stretching their long forms out into the forest like elegant praying mantises, the better to bask in and honor a pristine environment of centuries-old trees and hot springs. The wood-and-slate modular structures, assembled on site to adjust their footprints to the individual terrain, are otherwise generous in design. Large plate-glass windows pitch guests into the treetops, while skylights above beds perfectly capture the stars. pedrassalgadaspark.com.

8 of 24

9 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Honorable Mention: Best Resort Hotel Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico

Credit: Courtesy of Hotel Escondido

Designed by Federico Rivera Río

The newest resort from Grupo Habita elevates the cool factor of Puerto Escondido, a once-sleepy fishing village on Mexico’s Pacific Coast. Sixteen secluded palapas come with contemporary built-in bedframes, sliding reclaimed-wood doors, and private saltwater dipping pools. Teal geometric floor patterns and red surfboards propped ever so casually provide pops of color. Outside, round basket-weave chairs and curvilinear chaise lounges bring added dimension to the breezy sitting areas. hotelescondido.com

9 of 24

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best Transportation TAM Airlines First Class Cabin

Credit: Courtesy of Priestmangoode

Designed by Priestmangoode

Present in this design are all the notes one associates with a luxury class of travel: spacious seats that extend into beds, individual monitors, and tailor-made reading lamps. Priestmangoode deviates from the norm, however, in devising a cabin that aims to dispel claustrophobia. The four-seat arrangement is more domestic living room than airline cabin, with sofas replacing standard footstools to enable more natural socializing among those traveling together. Warm materials, including wool, leather, suede, and zebrawood, maintain a feeling of homeyness.

10 of 24

11 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Honorable Mention: Best Transportation CitiBike, New York City

Credit: Lars Klove

With 6,000 bikes, 332 stations, 350,000 users and counting, New York City’s new public bike-share program is a long-awaited improvement for both residents and visitors alike, allowing access to the city in a whole new way. citibikenyc.com

11 of 24

12 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best Hotel, Fewer Than 100 Rooms Gangtey Goenpa Lodge, Gangtey Valley, Bhutan

Credit: Chris Caldicott/Courtesy of Gante Goenpa Lodge

Designed by Mary Lou Design

Taking its cue from the 17th-century monastery a quick walk from its front door, Gangtey Goenpa slips discreetly and respectfully into its remote hillside location. Composed of two traditional farmhouse-style buildings connected by a single-story hall, the lodge incorporates Bhutanese textures and patterns. Floor-to-ceiling windows in the main lounge frame a spectacular vista; soft leathers bring warmth to the 9,000-foot elevation, as do individual fireplaces in the 12 guest rooms.

12 of 24

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

13 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Honorable Mention: Best Hotel, Fewer Than 100 Rooms Freehand Miami

Credit: Adrian Gaut

Designed by Roman & Williams

Set in a classic 1930s Art Deco building, this Miami Beach hostel finds effortless sophistication in the otherwise kitschy concept of “summer camp for adults.” Built-in bunk beds fill 62 private and shared rooms, which also feature wooden ladders and nautical-inspired accents. Bocce courts, Ping-Pong tables, and board game-filled sitting rooms maintain a youthful, laid-back atmosphere, but the hostel’s specialty cocktail lounge and garden, the Broken Shaker, is grown-up fun. thefreehand.com

13 of 24

14 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best Retail Space Reality Lab Issey Miyake, Tokyo

Credit: Masaya Yoshimura/Courtesy of Issey Miyake

Designed by Tokujin Yoshioka

Tasked with showcasing the work of a group of young in-house designers for Issey Miyake known as the Reality Lab, Tokujin Yoshioka has succeeded in creating an interior that is as innovative as the work on display. The space is influenced, in part, by the fact that Yoshioka formerly designed accessories for the brand and is a longtime collaborator of Miyake’s. Clinically smooth, pale walls and aluminum bands in bright blue and green contrast with rough concrete, referencing the science and artistry that fuel any lab. Like 3-D expressions of a physics problem, steel display stands and tables strike cantilevered poses. A long, low, blue display shelf allows the In Ei Issey Miyake collection of collapsible paper lamps to strut the runway like the supermodels of lighting that they are. isseymiyake.com.

14 of 24

15 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best Travel Clothing Adidas by Tom Dixon

Credit: Yasu + Junko

A collection of multifunctional, unisex clothing and accessories designed for weeklong adventures. Standout pieces include a reversible shirt jacket, a lightweight windbreaker, and a coated backpack that unzips fully to reveal its compartmentalized interior. From $168; eastdane.com

15 of 24

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

16 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best Watch Samsung Galaxy Gear

Credit: Yasu + Junko

Wearable technology that would make James Bond’s Q proud: answer calls, check the weather, take photos, draft messages, and more, all from your wrist. Compatible with a range of Samsung Galaxy mobile devices and available in six different colors, the new Galaxy Gear also features a pedometer, an auto-locate function, and a customizable clock. $299; samsung.com

16 of 24

17 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best Luggage Victorinox Travel Gear Spectra 2.0 Dual-Access Extra-Capacity Carry-on

Credit: Yasu + Junko

This suitcase has an ultralight, wide-body frame and front-zippered organization panel that allows for easy access to a laptop, tablet, passport, and more. $350; victorinox.com

17 of 24

18 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best Camera Canon PowerShot N

Credit: Yasu + Junko

Exactly what you want in a standalone point-and-shoot: a small, compact frame; a user-friendly interface; and sophisticated, mobile connectivity for uploading photos on the go. $300; usa.canon.com

18 of 24

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

19 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best Travel Accessory Flight 001 4-in-1 adapter

Credit: Yasu + Junko

Don’t get caught abroad with your batteries down. This compact device features four color-coded plugs that provide easy identification for use in more than 150 countries. $25; flight001.com

19 of 24

20 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best Headphones Plantronics BackBeat Go 2

Credit: Yasu + Junko

Bluetooth technology allows these headphones to connect wirelessly—and elegantly—to a smartphone or iPod. $79.99; plantronics.com

20 of 24

21 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best Travel Bag Quiksilver Travis Rice Platinum Pack

Credit: Yasu + Junko

Engineered for winter activities, this rugged multifunction backpack features a vertical and horizontal snowboard carry, a probe and shovel holder, and a fleece-lined goggle pocket. $120; quiksilver.com

21 of 24

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

22 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best Speaker Mini Jambox by Jawbone

Credit: Yasu + Junko

With its single-piece aluminum encasement, available in nine different colors, this latest Yves Béhar design is a sleeker, more portable version of its predecessors. $180; jawbone.com

22 of 24

23 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Best Travel Beauty Product Skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels

Credit: Yasu + Junko

Easily packable under-eye patches provide a concentrated dose of soothing, all-natural ingredients to help reduce puffiness and counter the effects of jet lag. $30; skyniceland.com

23 of 24

24 of 24

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Design Champion Thomas J. Pritzker, Executive Chairman, Hyatt Hotels Corporation

Credit: Courtesy of Hyatt

He is the leader of a family that has long played a preeminent role in both travel and design, and if there is a reason for this it can be found in Chicago. Hyatt is headquartered in the shadow of Louis Sullivan and Mies van der Rohe skyscrapers; architecture is in its DNA. When the company opened the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, in 1967, the hotel’s light-filled atrium was a revelation, and an inspiration for future properties from Hyatt, and other companies as well. “It changed the experience of our guests and our employees,” Pritzker says of the Atlanta atrium. “It was as if we had found a key to happiness and optimism.” That key was excellent design, and can be seen and felt in all the company’s properties—from Andaz Papagayo, in Costa Rica, to the hugely anticipated Park Hyatt New York—and in his family’s creation and support of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. For all of these reasons, for his vision, ambition, and generosity, we honor T+L’s 2014 Design Champion, Thomas J. Pritzker. —Luke Barr

24 of 24

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Heather Smith MacIsaac and Katie James

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Trending Videos
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 24 Best Cultural Space Elena Garro Cultural Center, Mexico City
2 of 24 Best Restaurant Höst, Copenhagen
3 of 24 Honorable Mention: Best Restaurant Lobster Bar, Paris
4 of 24 Best Bridge Høse Bridge, Sand, Norway
5 of 24 Best Hotel, 100 or More Rooms London Edition
6 of 24 Best Museum Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, New York
7 of 24 Honorable Mention: Best Museum Musée Louvre-Lens, Lens, France
8 of 24 Best Resort Pedras Salgadas Spa & Nature Park, Portugal
9 of 24 Honorable Mention: Best Resort Hotel Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico
10 of 24 Best Transportation TAM Airlines First Class Cabin
11 of 24 Honorable Mention: Best Transportation CitiBike, New York City
12 of 24 Best Hotel, Fewer Than 100 Rooms Gangtey Goenpa Lodge, Gangtey Valley, Bhutan
13 of 24 Honorable Mention: Best Hotel, Fewer Than 100 Rooms Freehand Miami
14 of 24 Best Retail Space Reality Lab Issey Miyake, Tokyo
15 of 24 Best Travel Clothing Adidas by Tom Dixon
16 of 24 Best Watch Samsung Galaxy Gear
17 of 24 Best Luggage Victorinox Travel Gear Spectra 2.0 Dual-Access Extra-Capacity Carry-on
18 of 24 Best Camera Canon PowerShot N
19 of 24 Best Travel Accessory Flight 001 4-in-1 adapter
20 of 24 Best Headphones Plantronics BackBeat Go 2
21 of 24 Best Travel Bag Quiksilver Travis Rice Platinum Pack
22 of 24 Best Speaker Mini Jambox by Jawbone
23 of 24 Best Travel Beauty Product Skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels
24 of 24 Design Champion Thomas J. Pritzker, Executive Chairman, Hyatt Hotels Corporation

Share options

Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message
Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
  • Sitemap
  • Travel Guide Sitemap

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletters
Other Travel + Leisure Sites
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en Español this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
Travel + Leisure is part of the Travel + Leisure Group. Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. Travel + Leisure is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation Travel + Leisure Group All Rights Reserved, registered in the United States and other countries. Travel + Leisure may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.travelandleisure.com

View image

T+L Design Awards
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.